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Shesh - why doesn't the first line of step #1 say "Turn off your phone" by holding the power button down and shutting it down. I know you don't HAVE to do this, but it certain didn't feel right opening a device while the screen was humming along looking at me.

Be very very careful with this step. The back of connector 4 (barely visible in the Step 2 photo) was stuck just enough to the back of the display unit to shear the connecter cable right in two when I separated the phone. Ack!

put your fingers at power button end of phone, resting on edge of glass/bezel you can use them as lever so when you pull on suction at other end you don't need to apply much pressure and the cables underneath aren't ripped off

As a help to doing this step, put your thumb/fingers around the phone around the middle so it's cradled in your hand. Keep your fingers wrapped around and resting gently on the top of the screen with your thumb and the first few fingers. See how his thumb is sitting on the edge like that, but ready to 'catch' the screen when it comes up? Do that with your thumb and the tips of your fingers on the other side.

Now carefully use the suction cup to 'walk/rock' the screen out with a left-to-right while pulling up motions. With your fingers gently clamped around the phone and providing a little pressure on the edges overlapping the screen when the screen comes out, they'll catch the screen before you pull it up too far and yank the cables out.

I was very careful, but not careful enough removing the display with a suction cup, and Everything came unplugged in an instant. CAUTION: Pull with the suction cup near the round button, AND ALSO have someone else support the other end of the display so that only the end of the display with the round button comes out. I was very lucky.

I used some insulation tape to wrap around the top of the phone so this was secure to prevent yanking the whole screen off. This was very effective as my screen was pretty jammed into the case so need extra leverage using the metal ring on the screen sucker

When you get back to this step as you are reassembling it, it's tempting to test that you've got all the cables plugged in properly by switching the phone on and testing it. However the Home button will not work until the front panel is back in position, because the electrical connection is done by a pair of touch contacts which only work when the phone is assembled.

When the instructions say "Rotate the display assembly up until it is at an angle of approximately 45 degrees." they really mean "TILT THE HOME BUTTON END OF display assembly up until it is at an angle of approximately 45 degrees. Looking at the picture makes this step brain dead simple, but if you were using another iPhone to read the directions it would be easy to miss.

Note that The connectors have a rubber-like Top surface. Make surre The spudger is inserted underneath that rubber piece. To disconnect, The connector ha to lifted upwards from the PC-Board (i.e. Orthogonally from the electronics board, as opposed to being moved sideways). holds true for all of those connectors, except for the one with the flip-tab.

I had more joy using a home-made spudger from a bamboo skewer. Being thinner, it can release the connectors from the end rather than a side or corner. (I also tried all the different spudgers made by Menda Tools.)

On my 3G, the piece that flips up on the #3 connector was black and the connector itself was white, seemingly opposite of the pictures. I mistakenly tried to pry up the wrong piece, but fortunately didn't do too much damage before I realized this. My phone was replaced on warranty in February so this must be the case in some newer 3G's.

On my 3G, the piece that flips up on the #3 connector was black and the connector itself was white, seemingly opposite of the pictures. I mistakenly tried to pry up the wrong piece, but fortunately didn't do too much damage before I realized this. My phone was replaced on warranty in February so this must be the case in some newer 3G's.

Thanks for the heads-up. I added a note so that people are aware that the colors may be reversed.

How on earth do I get the black ribbon cable back into its connector???

Cor, You have to slide the little bar on the connector away from the body of the connector before you can insert the ribbon cable into it. I know it's tight quarters, but even my meat hooks were able to finally get it inserted. The 'trick' is that once you have inserted the cable into the body of the connector, quickly slide the bar back toward the body as this will lock the cable into the connector. I hope this is helpful.

i have torn the top of the connector......... would that be the reason that the iPhone would not start even though the ribbon is in the connector and fastened secured with the white plastic tab is down.

Is there a way of replacing the connector? i have torn the top of the connector......... would that be the reason that the iPhone would not start even though the ribbon is in the connector and fastened secured with the white plastic tab is down.

You could replace it. That's what I'll have to do. Luckily my brother is great with soldering surface mounted components.

But if you had to ask if it can be replaced, you don't have knowledge to do it yourself! It's VERY difficult! Look among your friends or the 'Net. I found quite a lot of forums where they talk about the difficulty on replacing SMD's. Just mail one of them that seem to know what they're doin'...

I have torn the top of the connector too and the iPhone is not starting.. Was that the reason? Did it work after replacing the connector?

Zitat von Vishal Vaidya:

Is there a way of replacing the connector? i have torn the top of the connector......... would that be the reason that the iPhone would not start even though the ribbon is in the connector and fastened secured with the white plastic tab is down.

On my 3G, the piece that flips up on the #3 connector was black and the connector itself was white, seemingly opposite of the pictures. I mistakenly tried to pry up the wrong piece, but fortunately didn't do too much damage before I realized this. My phone was replaced on warranty in February so this must be the case in some newer 3G's.

Maybe it adds Value to the explanation to say that the piece that needs to be flipped up is located on the opposite side of where the ribbon cable exits the connector. It needs to flip upwards towards the ribbon cable.

My confusion was to identify which connector I have in my phone, since everything in there is so tiny that it is hard to identify which is which. Maybe a zoom-in on the connector with the tab flipped up would be a good addition to the instructions also.

I accidentally lost the black plastic tab (mine was black) when I was removing the ribbon cable. I managed to get the ribbon cable back into the white connector and the phone seems to be working fine. Is this going to be a problem?

The tab (black in my case) is the thin horizontal plastic piece opposite where the ribbon is inserted. Use the spudger in the center, approaching from the bottom side of the phone, and it flips up easily.

Be VERY careful when working with ribbon 3. I thought I was but when I got the phone back together the earpiece didn't work. While doing research to find out why, I discovered that ribbon 3 is very delicate and easy to damage. I'm now waiting for a new one... if I can't fix it, I'll have to get a new phone since I can't see myself hearing only via Bluetooth or speakerphone.

I think that this is where the problem is. I must have one of the unique (Chinese) versions and while trying to lift up, I should have been sliding back. It is too difficult to see. Mine broke off and crumbled and now the screen has a dead spot.

My American 3GS white connector did not flip open. It split into 3 little pieces of white plastic when I tried lifting it with the spudger. The plastic seemed very brittle; the phone is 4 years old. Amazingly to me, I was able to slide the flex tail back in to position and it made all the necessary electrical contacts (at least for the time being). Wi-fi cable #6 was not properly seated after first assembly, but everything is working now! Thank for the help.

I strongly recommend that you review Step 7 of the 3GS 'Display,' 'Front Panel' or 'Front Panel Assembly' guide. As of this date (June 2015), only those three guides include a photo of a mock-up of Connector 3 that will provide you with detail that will help you avoid damaging that fragile connector.

Actually, I had to apply some pressure to #7 to get it back in place - I tried not to force it as advice above said, but it wouldn't go in. The pressure wasn't too strong, but it doesn't just slide right in.

I agree with the others that cable 6 and 7 are very fragile and can be difficult to reattach. I was able to get #7 back on but #6 just wouldn't attach. I put too much pressure on it so now I have a cell phone without WiFi or GPS. I would rate the repairability of this phone lower than it is because of the 50-50 chance of flattening these connectors. My 3GS is now effectively an iPod, but with a new battery.

In hindsight I should have read over the whole recipe twice and looked at the comments before starting but I didn't because I thought I could do it and was impatient. I agree that there should be warning at the top to draw attention to the multiple wires that could be damaged when you do this.

My antenna doesn't work now and there is a small metal part that looks like a letter p that fell out of my phone. I thought it wouldn't matter till my friend said it might attach the antenna. Does anybody know where it is supposed to go?

The small metal part that looks like a "p" is a clip that holds the camera in place. You need to put it in place before you replace the screw immediately next to the camera. It's mentioned in step 12 of many of the guides.

I had edited this step months ago to add a warning to make VERY certain that the connector on the ribbon cable for #6 is centered on its mating connector on the motherboard before applying pressure to it. If it's not centered and you apply pressure you will very likely destroy both halves of the connector. The half attaced to the ribbon is replaced with the wifi antenna- very inexpensive. However, the half on the motherboard is tiny and soldered on. You'll need to get someone equipped to repair circuit boards.

When I ruined my #6 I ended up getting another phone. If you don't repair it, your phone will work but your wifi will not because #6 is the wifi connector.

Months ago I wrote and placed an edit into step 10 which read something like this:

" Be very certain that the #6 connector half on the ribbon cable is perfectly concentric with the #6 connector half on the mother board before applying pressure. This may require a magnifying glass or jewelers' loupe. Failure to ensure proper alignment of these connector halves prior to applying pressure will destroy both connector halves."

No, actually concentric is exactly correct. When the center of the circle in the ribbon is exactly over the center of the connector on the board the respective circles of the connector halves are CONCENTRIC and properly aligned.

I found that after putting the battery in place and reattaching the logic board with the screws I had to press down a little bit to get the screws to reach because the battery contacts kept the logic board from settling in this tension gives positive contact between board and battery.

My battery had swollen - so much so that the back cover was bulged. So when I was removing screws, I was really careful and did every-other-one first on one side, and then the other, then back to the first side, etc. Even in doing that, one of the screws went flying...somewhere...I never did find it, but it hasn't seemed to effect anything. And when I do find it I know I can get back in my phone to put it back.

I didn't have a removable screw in the bottom right with a metal strip, there was a fastening in there without a Philips type depression, but the camera came out with the board. Not sure if the last person in here before me broke something, as there was an aftermarket battery in the phone with no adhesive. However the camera works after putting it all back together

As mentioned, some 3g phones there is a small metal clip holding down the camera (held in place by the screw there). Be sure it doesn't fly out or fall into the phone workings. Fine point tweezers would help here, to take it out and to put back in place during re-assembly.

3G and 3GS camera enclosure: As I was transplanting a 3G cover onto a 3GS, I realized as I was trying to re-assemble the camera that it would not fit: the 3GS camera does not fit in the 3G enclosure. Luckily, you can remove just the camera enclosure from the 3GS and transplant it to the 3G. It's dirty, I broke the ring, I transplanted some of the double face tape... but in the end it worked.

There were many places where I wished there were clearer instructions on putting it back together; this was a big one. It was very difficult to get the camera back in place. I heard a snap when mine went into place.

Even after the eight screws are remove, the board won't lift up easily. That is because the golden clip nearby the "do not remove sticker". In the picture above, it simply jumped out for no reason, while I had to use a tweezer to make it out...

When reversing directions for reassembly, the logic board needs to be clipped into the clips on the side.

++

Although I would say "needs to be slipped under the clips on the side". The most obvious clip is next to the camera, facing south (if the camera is in the NE corner). There is a corresponding clip on the opposite side of the north end the logic board, facing east (a bit east of the #6 ribbon cable).

It's still possible to get all the screws back in with the logic board above the clips (trust me), but it's a serious barnus because the SIM card holder won't fit back in and the camera will be pointing a bit askew ... and you'll have to pull all the screws back out and figure out what you did wrong (and why you had a naggling suspicion the logic board wasn't placed quite right).

I would recommend sliding in the SIM card tray *before* putting any screws back, just to make sure.

My motherboard actually was not quite lined-up as mentioned, and so after the SIM didn't fit, I was able to pull and reposition the motherboard properly before proceeding.

Zitat von johnhart:

++

Although I would say "needs to be slipped under the clips on the side". The most obvious clip is next to the camera, facing south (if the camera is in the NE corner). There is a corresponding clip on the opposite side of the north end the logic board, facing east (a bit east of the #6 ribbon cable).

It's still possible to get all the screws back in with the logic board above the clips (trust me), but it's a serious barnus because the SIM card holder won't fit back in and the camera will be pointing a bit askew ... and you'll have to pull all the screws back out and figure out what you did wrong (and why you had a naggling suspicion the logic board wasn't placed quite right).

I would recommend sliding in the SIM card tray *before* putting any screws back, just to make sure.

When putting it back together, it helps with alignment to put in the SIM Card tray. This beats having all your screws back in and finding out it's misaligned. Put the logic board 5/6 the way in, and insert the SIM Card tray like normal. Allow it to guide your logic board into the proper place.

The glue is very strong under the battery and you may end up snapping a few spudgers in the process so make sure you have a few spare for moving onto other steps. A screwdriver is to hard and will end up damaging the battery.

I successfully completed these steps to dry out a wet phone. While everything inside was dry as a bone, I never did remove the battery since the adhesive was so strong.

I found the spudger far too weak to even attempt the removal of the battery. Instead, I used a folding bone (something I've had for years that's used for making perfect folds in heavy printmaking paper) however, I was still bending the battery far more than I was comfortable with. Since my mission was not to mess with or replace the battery anyways I just left it alone.

I've done all the steps and phone switches on and works just fine with the one exception that I do have a signal! Is it possible I've damaged the aerial in the process? The strange thing is that on checking the networks I can see T-Mobile, but not 02, so implies something is working. All very odd. Currently my iPhone has become an iPod! Erkk

You most likely forgot to re-atatch the antenna. It is one of the connecters you unhooked after the first 3...its located in the top left of the case..Its a circular connecter.

Zitat von John:

I've done all the steps and phone switches on and works just fine with the one exception that I do have a signal! Is it possible I've damaged the aerial in the process? The strange thing is that on checking the networks I can see T-Mobile, but not 02, so implies something is working. All very odd. Currently my iPhone has become an iPod! Erkk

I've done all the steps and phone switches on and works just fine with the one exception that I do have a signal! Is it possible I've damaged the aerial in the process? The strange thing is that on checking the networks I can see T-Mobile, but not 02, so implies something is working. All very odd. Currently my iPhone has become an iPod! Erkk

any help welcome,just changed the battery on the wife's iPhone after it took a little swim,it wouldn't charge after drying out and i thought a new battery would be the answer,phone switches on ok and everything works except it won't charge on any of our proven chargers.guess something on the main board's knackered. if you have any ideas i would be a very happy chap.

There are no delicate parts below the battery so you can push the spudger under the battery without damaging anything. Just be careful at the top of the phone that you don't damage the orange ribbon cable.

Just a little tip I thought I might add. I would recommend having a digital camera handy to taking snap shots before proceeding with each step, so that you can see exactly how it originally looked at each stage. Once you've gotten to the battery section, just pop the card from the camera into a computer or applicable device and you now have a simple guide for reassembly that is specific to your device.

Also, it may be prudent to take a picture of the screws laid out in a tray along side the phone in the same positions they came out of.

Agree with others - spooger will almost certainly break if you try to pry it out using just that and you can't pull hard enough on the plastic tab. Even on my 2 year old phone, the glue was still *quite* good at holding the battery in.

I used an equally small flat-blade screwdriver and gently walked around the battery lifting against the bottom plastic and the edge of the phone being careful NEVER to touch any of the flat-cable wires. While you can pry against the bottom since there is nothing under it (just double-check since there are some wires running along the side of the phone and the pressure you need to remove the battery would damage the wires if you pryed on them), you need to be careful against the edge of the phone. It's cheap plastic. You can pry against it, but I dared not use more force than enough to start hearing the adhesive start to rip/creak loose. SLOWLY walking around the battery at safe pry points several times finally loosened it enough that I could pull it out. GO SLOW.

Had to use pliers to slowly pull the battery free by it's tab. When you reverse the steps to reassemble the phone - make sure to get all 6 (or 7 for the 3GS) cables plugged back in. I forgot connector 5 and had to take the phone back apart. Then realized the next day I also had missed connector 6 (wifi). So because I reassembled too quickly the first time - I got to do all the steps 3 times! But phone works perfectly now with a new battery.

Actually broke the plastic spludger trying to get the battery off. Considered it the hardest part of the tutorial. I kept looking at it to see if I hadn't ruined something.Asides from this, reassembling was fairly quick although there was no sliding back of the logic board for me on a 3G. Turned it back on, tested sound, microphone and wifi. All seems good. Thanks alot for all the help guys.

When I put the new battery in, it was a smidge too far toward the bottom. As a result the logic board didn't quite fit back into place and I was unable to put two screws back in. However, the repair seems successful and my phone is working now. Additional guidance on installing the battery would help.

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use a business card type refrigerator magnet to keep the screws in order and to keep them from being lost. Its hard to see the black plastic latch that retains the ribbon number 3, it simply flips up toward the top of the phone. go slow and methodical.when reinstalling insert the Sim card holder before replacing all the screws, it helps to hold the board in the proper place.

There is a tiny metal clip that holds the camera down on my iPhone 3GS. It fell out after I had removed the screw that holds the camera in place, as directed. Only intuition and good luck allowed me to figure out where it had come from.

I also found out that the connector for my camera came loose from the BACK of the logic board. it snapped back in place, no problem, but I could have easily tried reassembling the phone without it connected, and either found things didn't want to fit, or ended up without a functioning camera, and a panic attack that I had clumsily destroyed same.

An old mechanic's trick -- you can magnetize a screwdriver by rubbing it with a magnet. Makes it worlds easier to pick up and install tiny, easily lost steel screws. They'll stay on the end of the screwdriver due to the magnetism. You rub the magnet down the length of the screwdriver to magnetize it. It works best if you have the polarity of the magnet (plus to minus, north to south) lined up with the length of the screwdriver, and you rub in one direction only. After each swipe lift the magnet away from the screwdriver before you make the next swipe. You'll find the screwdriver will stay magnetized for a very long time.

Sometimes having your screwdriver magnetized can be a pain. In that case you can de-magnetize it by rubbing it the opposite direction.

For the first few charging cycles the new battery acted like it was not taking a full charge, but then settled down to behaving like I had hoped -- charging up quickly and then running all day with capacity to spare.

But just yesterday the phone started acting like it was NOT charging. The little lightning bolt icon came on when the phone was plugged in, but the percent of charge did not increase -- it slowly went down.

There did appear to be substantial charge in the battery, despite it being 'in the red'. It took a very long time for it to completely discharge.

Going by comments found online, I allowed the phone to completely discharge, then plugged it in overnight. It was up to about 70% charge when I checked it in the morning. I did a system restore on the phone -- an option in iTunes. It wiped the entire system then rebuilt it from the iTunes backup files. Dunno if that helped, hurt, or had no effect. But so far today the battery and charging have been back to behaving normally.

I just performed a battery replacement on my 3GS last night. I got everything plugged back in and it went smoothly - but when I turned it on - the screen would backlight, but no icons/images. Plugged into a computer I could see all my music/etc - so I knew I didn't brick the phone; but no images after opening and re-seating everything 3 times.

Saw someone else had trouble with charging until he restored factory defaults so I figured I'd try that. I told iTunes to restore factory defaults, and right after the update - screen appears. Why a software reset would bring a screen back from a battery change makes NO sense to me - but that did it.

I was given a 3gs that had fallen in the toilet. (clean bowl) afterwards it only came on when it was plugged in and you could get it into restore mode but that was it. I felt it worth a punt to get a battery of the flea bay and have a go. I found putting the mother board back in a fiddle but i did it and tested the old battery. it was completely dead. I then replaced it and hay presto a working 3GS for the price of a battery. AWESOME! thanks FIXIT.

there are loads of people trying to sell 3G and 3GS models on Flea bay in a similar state as this one but not sure if the fix would be this simple!

Replacing ribbon #3 is the most difficult procedure. Use scotch tape to hold ribbon #1 and #2 out of the way while working with #3. Slightly straighten ribbon #3 and then thread it into the receptacle by moving the display toward the dock connector end of the phone. When the ribbon enters the receptacle use the broad part of the spudger to slide the ribbon contacts fully into the connector. Working from the top end of the phone, slip the spudger beneath the display to seat the ribbon, gently pressing the ribbon toward the dock connector end. Then snap the plastic tab on the connector shut.

I just successfully replaced my iPhone 3GS battery today, as mentioned above, make sure you slide the sim card tray back in as soon as the slot is aligned correctly, it'll help hold the logic board down and in the correct position. I also had to apply a larger than expected amount of force to the logic board in order to reattach the side screws.

The camera was one of the hardest steps to replace, I also dropped the small metal clip for the camera, but it's easily reattached. Realigning the camera was easier for me when most of the other internal screws were already attached.

I did notice that once I'd finished the reassembly, my phone complained about invalid certificates for email constantly. This ended up being resolved about 2 minutes after my phone booted, due to the date & time being reset!! I had quite the panic at first, I hope this saves someone else the brain trauma :)

Just completed this task in about 30 min. I am typically a high tech junky doing this kind of stuff all the time, but I got to admit this job on my iPhone was like performing an operation on your own child.... not something I wanted to do. However, with the gross lack of support in the phone service world for this relatively easy task, I felt I had no real options. Thanks for the comfort of having pictures and clear descriptions to "hold my hand" as I progressed cautiously and successfully through this procedure.

This repair took me longer than advertised, and I had to do it twice to get the camera back working properly. My tip for "magnetizing' the screws was to dip the screwdriver head into a glue mouse trap ever so slightly. This put just enough adhesive on the end to enable me to get the screws back in place before tearing my hair out. I also put a white cotton cloth down on my workspace so I would not lose any parts and that turned out to be a good thing. As of now, the new battery on this phone is performing better than the one on my new 4s.

For those who wanted to know what all the connectors are for in one place (there seemed to be a lot of inconsistent or incomplete posts in this guide and throughout the site), here are the connector summaries in one place for the 3GS model (3G is different):

Overall went very smooth, but three recommendations are use the fridge magnets to hold the screws, get some tweezers to help handle the screws, and put the sim card in before replacing the logic board. Hardest part was getting the logic board back in just right and getting sim card to enter easily.

* The ribbon cables have a plastic housing on the underside, which contains two rows of metal teeth which bite onto a similar row of metal teeth on the logic board itself. The tiny ribbon cables e.g. 6 have a small round metal 'popper'. Both types can be simply levered off with the spudger, and then pushed back on with your finger (i put the spudger beneath the whole ribbon cable on number 1, to ensure I was pulling up the whole housing and not just the spongy bit of foam with a sticker on that lies on top of the ribbon.

* Another tip I have is that if you don't have a magnet to store the screws on then a bit of blue tack (silly putty) words well. Useful for when you drop the screwdriver on the desk and everything else goes flying..

* Especially when replacing ribbon 3, I found I had to stick the phone to the desk to stop is sliding while I put the cable into the clamp housing using tweezers. Pretty fiddly but quite satisfying when you get it right. Note that it doesn't go all the way in; you can still see a couple of mm of orange poking out when it is time to clamp the tab down.

* Very happy with iFixit; I've ordered twice now, and both times I have received my order within a week. And I live in China. Top notch!

Great guide, carefully following steps made battery replacement on my wife's 3GS really easy. I bought the spudger from ifixit, thinking it might be a bit pricey for a piece of plastic but it turned out to be a great tool. Thanks a lot.

Using the spudger may be more annoying and takes longer to remove the battery the danger with using a metal object is damage to the case and/or cabling. I also had a loose screw in the case which came from the power button assembly. That sidetracked me for a while

I did complete but took a little longer than I anticipated. The "do not remove" sticker was a pain because it tore off in little pieces, and my battery was hard to get unstuck(good adhesive I suppose). In the end I did get the battery changed, the only thing that doesn't work now is my camera, but I'm sure it was 100% user error. Oh well I just need the phone to work till the iPhone 5 comes out.

Battery I was sent by ifixit is longer and wider then the original in my 3gs. i think it all due the orange tape they use to hold the side flaps and bottom circuit board on. just poorly taped. not sure i am going to be able to make this fit with out re taping the sides and bottom. guide is great. i am surprised no one else has commented about the battery being a hair to long and wide.

It took a some real pressure to push the battery toward the doc connector to get the connector that is attached to the battery to be able to slide over the pin/ screw hole that it mounts to and once it did that whole connector was a little twisted but the contact pints it hits on the board are pretty big so i don't think it will be a problem... and no problem its back together and working now.

Just finished doing this. Seems to have worked at first plug in. All the features I tested are still going. Guide was great. A few notes from my experience:

- I had trouble peeling up the Do Not Remove sticker. Ended up shredding the part covering the screw. Tucked it back over top of the screw when I reassembled and hopefully won't have a negative effect

- The screw attached to the battery was in really tight and the screwdriver supplied by IFixit wouldn't budget it (but worked for all other screws). Ended up using a flat edge eyeglasses screwdriver.

- Had a lot of trouble pulling up the battery as it is stuck really hard. I used the hair dryer trick to warm the glue, but I broke one end of the spudger doing it. I recommend getting at least one extra. Turns out though the broken spudger was the best tool for prying out the battery. After snapping off the edge, the remaining plastic still had a bit of curve and was a lot sturdier so I was able to get it under the battery and pop it up.

• Fitting the new battery was difficult, as the ifixit battery is about 1.5mm longer than the original one, so the connector end has to be opened slightly and re-taped in a slightly tighter configuration.

• With all the fiddling at the battery connector end it's easy to let cable 6 slip under the battery, which is annoying. In the end it's a bit of a squeeze but it does fit eventually.

• The whole phone was full of dust, hairs and cruft and took some time to pick it all out. I used a trimmed matchstick to clean the groove the screen fits into, and inadvertently dropped a tiny sliver of wood on connector 2; when it didn't click down properly I found it and removed it with the point of a needle.

Well, that was much harder than the guide makes it look. My camera doesn't work now and even with reading glasses I could hardly tell the screws apart. (I did separate them during disasembly, but still...) Be sure to position the battery just right and if your phone is important to you, have a service do this. I regret doing it myself now. And if you DO try this yourself, get the toolkit or make sure you have a watchmakers kit and a suction cup.

Battery came ok by working around the edges first. Also another tip. Dip screwdriver in some jam so the screws stay in place when reassembling. Also note the metal clip above camera to know how to put back on.

I replaced the battery, and when I switched it on again, the battery level showed 100% and than later goes in start up mode again or asks for activation by connecting to i tunes. As soon as I take the connector from the charger out, the phone dies. I also tried to connect the phone directly to the computer, but there it does not start at all!! Any suggestions?

out of frustration, I havw just put the old, not so good working battery back, phone works fine. So something is wrong with the battery. Yes, its the correct one for 3GS, even the APN numbers are identical!!

Did this once and afterwards Wifi was greyed out, not available and none of the apps would run; just blink back to the home screen. Doesn't seem to be holding a charge--I let it sit plugged in x 30 minutes, it died as soon as I unplugged it--so can't get it to iTunes to restore from backup. I repeated the entire repair in case I missed something, maybe had a slight alignment problem somewhere etc. It's charging now--we'll see.

Tips I learned: cables #6 and #7 are round snap-on connectors. Line them up carefully, they should "click" in place. Also, the "Do Not Remove" sticker got obliterated in the process of repair; first time through I didn't put anything over the screw at the end--wonder if that caused a problem? Second time through I put a small square of electrical tape over it. lastly, cable #3 is tricky. That white bar flips up like a latch. Slide the cable back in at the end, then flip the latch down to secure it.

Got a replacement battery from ifixit a couple days ago to replace the bad one they sent out to me the first time. I put that one in and everything works fine now. I would definitely recommend that if you do this fix and are "sure" you did it right, consider that the battery you got might be a lemon. I thought it would be a matter of powering on=good, DOA=bad, but it's apparently much more than that. The first time I did this fix my wifi stopped working and the second time I couldn't get a cell signal. I figured I'd screwed up the repair, but it was the battery. One other tip I learned doing this process a 4th time--make sure all the ribbon cables are above the logic board before you screw it back down. I had #5 pinned under the board, and thankfully didn't damage it, though a small piece of black plastic was near it when I discovered my mistake (maybe from the SIM tray?). But it didn't seem to affect anything. Phone works great now.

The "Do not remove" sticker that needs to be removed to get to one of the screws didn't come off in one piece. It would have been nice to have a plastic sticker like that in the kit, but since it wasn't there I cut a matching piece of plastic out of the double stick plastic that held in the old battery and used that. It isn't as clean, but it will prevent metal on ribbon contact that potentially will ground something.

My 3gs had a APN:616-0435, recieved an APN:616-0431 which had the 3M self adhesive on the back of the battery. I noticed a needed clarification in the instructions, when prying up cable No:1 pry up oposite of ribbon towards outside of case not as pic shows. White release tab for ribbon, mine was black. Also battery only had 30% charge when I activated phone. No full as web page states.

Had a replacement battery from a German company via amazon and was warned that under iOS 6 there are frequent bugs like phone restarting, battery not charging fully etc... They said I'd better send it in or at least do a reset. So I did a DFU-reset before and one after installation and it works fine. (iOS 6.1)

I replaced both the battery and power button on a 3GS that is old and has been opened up several times (by me and my predecessor). The battery starting dying after I opened it up last time to replace the digitizer. I think because of ESD damage, but really not sure. As far as the process itself, it was probably the dirtiest (literally and figuratively) repair I've ever done. The inside of the phone was very dusty and dirty which didn't help. Getting the logic board back in was a pain! Really don't have any advise to give to those who are struggling with that as well, don't give up! You'll get there eventually. I definitely could have been more gentle with the camera, golden ground tab and the cables, but in my experience, electronics are a lot more durable and strong than we sometimes think. I did use a anti-static wristband this time though (iFixit sells them, but so does Radioshack), just to make sure I wouldn't fry anything again. Good luck!

Went smooth. Taking it apart was the easiest. About 5 minutes. Battery a little tough to detach from the adhesive but it eventually gave. Putting back together took about 15 minutes. Its always harder to put stuff back together, but possible. Thanks ifixit!!

When removing the display assembly with the suction cup, put some duct tape on the Iphone where the Sim card tray is. This prevents destroying the internal cables if the display assembly comes off too fast. Also it helps to hold the display assembly at 45 degrees, so you can remove cables #1, 2, and 3.

Make sure when you are re-assembling, that the cables snap in, you can feel it happen. Some of my cables were hanging loose when I re-open the Iphone to troubleshoot why it wasn't working the first time.

I replaced my old battery with new one, and soon after the replacement it began to restart. It also had the following problems. 1). shows full charge when connected with the computer 2). sometimes doesn't show signals 3). restarts even in the Airplane Mode.

So I replaced the new one with the old one again and now its working as usual. I rechecked the battery APN and it is 616-0435.

Take your time on connecting the cables. When they connect, they connect. It's hard to connect them but once you do it right you'll feel it. I did very light tappings around the connector to see if any part was loose to check if it was all correct.

On the 3 cables from the logic board, connect number 3 first, it doesn't go all the way like it was before, that's ok AFAIK. After number 3, connect number 1 and then number 2. It worked better for me that way.

The battery even comes with a 20% charge, hehe.

Good luck to you all and have a lot of patience. I did it in one hour aproximately.

Step 6 requires a detail diagram of the clip for connector 3...like a line drawing or something. The picture is very un-detailed and low contrast right where clarification is necessary. For someone new at connector types, doing similar pop-out connectors and then this singular slide-out connector with a hinged clip it's confusing - and could easily lead to damaging these delicate parts.

No matter what I do, I cannot get the screen back on. It is too high on the sim card end. I thought maybe the battery wasn't fitting right and put the original back in. I still cannot get the phone back together. It just seems like everything is too high at the sim card end. Any ideas?

1. Putting connectors back on was easier with my thumb because I could feel very clearly when it was in the right position and push softly across the surface. All connectors seemed to click back in place, except 1-3.

2. I had a lot of trouble getting the screen off (perhaps because the phone is so old). I eventually had to use a "hooked screwdriver" on the edge of the glass at the button-end. It came out quite easily but be careful not to damage seal around class.

3. I used some of the old battery adhesive tape to cover the screw under the "Do Not Remove" sticker, which was impossible to flip back without destroying at least half of it. I think it should be ok this way.

4. I dropped a screw into the phone when re-assembling and took a long time to find it. Be careful, the screws can fit in little spots and become fixed without even screwing. I finally found it, looked like it was a permanent screw but splutter could move.

5. The grounding tab (triangular shape metal piece sticking out from the mother board that grounds the phone to the case looks very fragile and gets caught up in the cable. Be careful with this.

6. As mentioned, I couldn't get the suction cup to work, pulling off the screen. Perhaps would be easier using an iFixit suction cup. Mine was an old one from around the house and not as sturdy or strong.

7. Spluder is excellent, so glad I got that.

8. Getting the battery off was quite difficult. I highly recommend heating the back of the phone for a while (it takes a while for the glue to soften as well). Be careful when prying the battery off as there are some ribbon wires and other bits around the battery.

9. Highly recommend the fridge magnet and a magnetic screw-driver for handling the screws. They are very small and jump about very easily when knocked or dropped. Also you do need the correct screw-driver, won't work with larger ones.

Replaced the battery... and it entered and endless loop of "apple symbol for a few minutes", "spinning clock", shutdown, "apple symbol...", and so on. Tried to restore using iTunes, same issue. Then I decided to open it again and check all the connectors... put it back together, new restore... and "voila"! It's working.

It's unfortunate that I had to restore the system... but all is well when it ends well. Just remember to always backup before replacing the battery.

Changed the battery with no problems. Reassembling was not that hard. Little problem getting the main board in and had to swear a bit to get one of the cables in place. Now we can use the phone again without having it connected to the charger all the time.

Absolutely brilliant, easy to follow and accurate, only improvement i can suggest is to use either use a magnetic screwdriver or stick a small magnet to your your screwdriver to make handling and positioning the screws easier.

I attempted this a few months ago without the guide and it cost £40 ($66 app.) to get it repaired after my attempt, this time £3.50 ($5.60 app.) big difference!!

Just completed the battery instal based on this guide, very good & was able to complete it pretty well until switching it back on to find i had no service, a quick format sorted that though and all seems good now

thank you guy so much for the repair guide that worked just perfectly – and unfortunately still didn't fix the problem. I changed the battery, the phone started and worked fine, until the battery got low. When I tried to charge it, it wouldn't work. Maybe the battery I replaced wasn't even broken, maybe it was something else. I will never find out since I measured charged of the old battery and it was dead; but maybe it died sometime in the six month I left the phone in some drawer.

Anyways: Idead about what to do now, or maybe if there just isn't anything left to to will be really apprecciated.

The instructions were spot on. New battery (from iFixit) is in and everything appears to be working great.

I just wish I read the fridge magnet trick to help catch the screw you know your are going to drop, which I did. After about an hour of hunting for it, I found that bounced to the back of my desk. Thank goodness for hardwood floors or I don't think I'd ever find it.

The instructions were clear and I managed to change the battery. Removing the old battery was the biggest hurdle. The whole operation took me maybe 45 minutes as I tried to be careful and also tried to clean the phone as I worked on it.

However, the replacement didn't fix my phone. The old battery pack of my 3GS was spent and the phone only worked when plugged in until it finally completely died off and would not hold charge or turn back on, just showing the empty battery/charging icon and occasionally the Apple logo before switching off again. With the new pack, this problem persists. The battery appears empty, phone will not turn on. I suspect the replacement battery may be a lemon. The battery heats up while charging, but so did the old one.

The problem is not in the charger/cables as I have tried many. The phone also has had problems with the mute switch and power button already before the battery started dying. I cleaned them the best I could but the power button still won't work except occasionally.

Don't do it! I'm one of those guys who fixes everything. I'm really good with my hands. I should have been able to replace my battery. I followed the directions meticulously. Even used a large, mounted magnifying glass at times. Taking the iPhone 3GS apart was no problem. Halfway through the take-apart, I wondered whether all the tiny pieces would fit back together exactly the right way. Too late to stop then, however. I replaced the battery and backtracked to put everything back together. The board didn't want to go back in flat…it just wobbled. It took 2-3 attempts to finally get it in correctly. One of my ribbon connectors was different than the photos (an old model?) and needed to be slipped into place. I really needed the magnifier for that. Got it all together, and the phone would only stay on for a few seconds before shutting down. I went back inside and reconnected that suspicious ribbon connector. Now the phone works, but no camera and the battery won't charge above 50%. Now I need a new phone.

Dropped my phone into the toilet on a train - bugger - dead as a Dodo. Six hours later after using this guide to pull apart the phone I dried it in the oven at 50˚C (122˚F) for 2 hours and reassembled. Booted up and so far all is working again!

The first time I tried this, I bricked my phone, and had to sell it for scrap. It works fine as long as you do everything very carefully. Also, it's helpful to test the battery for +3.7V before taking the phone apart. Lithium batteries can't run to 0, or they're good for nothing but a paperweight. One tip is to run your fingernail along the margin between the screen and case to remove stuck dirt which inevitably ends up there. Don't use a spudger and definitely don't use anything metal. It's way too easy to scratch or damager something. Clean margin will make the screen removal way easier. My phone is now working fine, although I only use it now for a portable music player and ooma client. Well worth the $6.50 I spent on a new battery.

Ordered a new battery from iFixit for my poor, abused and aging 3GS (hand-me-down to my kids who use it as an iPod). The original battery was old, not holding a charge, and was expanding, pushing the case open. I've taken apart Apple laptops before, this was my first shot at an i-device. It helped me to watch the video, go over the whole guide first, and make sure I had a plan for screw organization prior to beginning. Took less than an hour, everything went as described in the guide, nothing really I wasn't prepared for. New battery works great! Thanks iFixit for the parts and the help.

Good News - Bad News: This was my very first time,ever, in trying to repair any electronic device. Yes I was 100% successful in replacing the battery in my iPhone 3GS. Thank you iFixit for the parts. BUT---- No thanks to iFixit for the not very helpful instructions, dark photos and no close-up shots. Also, the iFixit video is utterly useless. THANK GOD I found a iCracked.com video on YouTube (" Official iPhone 3G / 3GS Battery Replacement Video & Instructions - iCracked.com ). It gave me the confidence I needed to actually do the repair. The instructions were very clear and the video was also very precise. Especially about how the #3 ribbon cable connector works - Very Important. It even helps you re-assemble the iPhone in the reverse order. I am a complete idiot when it comes to this stuff, and even I was able to replace the battery and have the iPhone boot-up in perfect working order when I was finished. iFixit got my money for the parts which is terrific - but the instructions from them were lacking.

Purchased a battery for iPhone 3gs, followed steps from iFixit. 1st step,the case almost opened by itself, and noticed a bulging from center of the phone. Upon removing the battery, noticed bloated battery, that had distorted the logic board. In addition, the back cover and bezel were distorted, but fit back well. May need some adhesive to ensure closure. Any suggestions to source a logic board? iFixit doesn't, from what I see, carry it. As the logic board is distorted, is the best path to replace? Thanks

After following all the steps and replaced the old battery by the knew one and reassembled my iPhone 3GS, I tried to turn it on but nothing appeared on screen. Suddenly a ton sounded and the Photo Application on my Mac opened up showing the pictures stored inside the phone and I, fast as I could….lol…, imported everything that was “arrested” inside, but on screen of the phone nothing appeared. If I unplug the charging cable from the phone, a white screen shows up for some seconds and after that it disappears. With the iTunes software opened, it detects the phone, show it and I can see that it is being charged and has 58%, opps, now is 59%. What else could I do tô have my dear iPhone 3GS working, at least as a phone.

Hello I fix it , I am very impressed, the tool kit is excellent, the instructions here are the best ;) I could not be more impressed ,I'm an ASE certified Master mechanic , if the auto assembly books I use were this good , I would be out of business, as anyone with any sense can perform any repair with this great instruction, thank you very much, now I look like a rock star to my girlfriend, her I phone has a new battery , I can fix anything, woo hoo:) yours sincerely Duncan Harkness

Great instructions! It all worked! New battery installed and working! Certainly could not have done it without your great and very clear guide. Great to read the relevant comments as you go. Thank you so much!

Well I followed the instructions & changed the battery ok.. But no power at all… completely stuck now… don't know if replacement battery is faulty or just not charged. I live on a boat so only 12v charging, not touching it. So will have to try mains charging at work… if that doesn't work I'm snookered. Old battery just wouldn't charge anymore. Would have thought new battery would have had some charge at least…Totally puzzled